Southall widower gets surprise £5,000 cheque

A WIDOWER from Southall got the surprise of a lifetime when he received a cheque for £5,000 last week.

James McCarron was chosen at random by Publisher’s Clearing House, a prize fund that has just started up in the UK but has been well-known in the United States for over five decades.

Mr McCarron, 53, entered a free prize draw on the company’s website and was one of three UK winners. He received the fateful knock on his door last Tuesday.

He said: “I was just fixing my laptop when I heard someone at the door. At first I thought it was my daughter Collette’s friends.

“I opened my door and there was a bunch of people standing there, congratulating me. I couldn’t believe it.

“I’ve never won anything before and this is such a huge amount of money. I won’t be spending any of it on myself as it’s Collette’s 16th birthday at the end of the month so we can give her a party to remember now. I’m sure she’s already making a suitably big list of presents.”

“My mother also lives in Donegal in Ireland and is ill at the moment, so this means I can go and visit her.”

Mr McCarron, whose wife Mary died from cervical cancer six years ago, said he had had a tough couple of years.

“I’ve been back and forth to hospital a lot due to complications due to a hernia operation I had in July last year. I’d also become unemployed.

“Now this has happened, though, it looks like things are turning around. I trained as a bus driver so I’m hoping to get back into work soon.”

During its time in the United States, Publisher’s Clearing House has awarded more than £130 million in prize money.